Ah crap it’s Wednesday. Things were actually looking pretty dire for the week in review this time, considering Gatchaman Crowds took the week off. That’s basically the only show I’m watching weekly that lends itself to more than a shrugging gladiatorial up-or-down thumb, so with that out of the picture, what could I even talk about? Could I really spin Prison School and Monster Musume into four paragraphs of discussion? Maybe I could… maybe I could just talk about my favorite lunches of the week? Actually that’s not the worst idea, but either way, my worries ended up being unfounded, because this week I watched the entire first season of SYMPHOGEAAAAAAR.
Tag Archives: Classroom Crisis
Classroom Crisis – Episode 8
Classroom Crisis had likely its best episode yet this week, using Kirishina’s school festival as an opportunity to contrast Kaito and Nagisa against both their past selves and the political interests they each theoretically represent. It was a very nuanced performance when you break it down, but it came off very lightly in practice, with the show once again riding on firmly constructed character relationships. It’s kind of sad that it seems like Classroom Crisis is somehow slipping through the cracks of this season – it’s an odd and occasionally awkward show, but it nails the best stuff a show can nail, the important character stuff that makes everything else worth caring about. It’s a very endearing production.
You can check out my full writeup over at ANN, or my notes below!
Summer 2015 – Week 7 in Review
Wednesday has come again, and with it one more entry in my increasingly less timely week in reviews. At this point, I’m watching an even four airing shows, which is probably the least since I started this tradition – but on the other hand, I’ve had School-Live, Gangsta, Snow White with the Red Hair, and Rokka all recommended to me with varying levels of enthusiasm, so clearly other people have found a bit more to love in this season. This week, I’ve largely been making up the difference with manga, which has made for a nice change of pace. But let’s hold off on that for now, and start by running down what episodic stuff I actually have seen!
Classroom Crisis – Episode 7
Classroom Crisis had another strong episode this week, with the show at long last allowing Angelina to escape from those awful gags that have been dragging her character down. Nope, no stupid age jokes this time – instead, Angelina got to drink wine and kick ass, knocking out some hijackers and making friends with Iris in the process. This episode also featured a whole bunch of payoff on Nagisa’s side, as the relationships the show has developed between him and the rest of the class led to some satisfying moments of real friendship and camaraderie between them. We’ve reached that sweet spot where it’s inherently satisfying to see these characters spend time together, which is a very good place for any drama to be. Keep it up, Classroom Crisis!
You can check out my full writeup over at ANN, or my notes below.
Summer 2015 – First Half in Review
The summer halfway point has arrived! As per long-hallowed tradition, the season halfway point is always celebrated with my first and only show ranking of the season, emphasizing the fundamental ridiculousness of lists through the double-stacked ridiculousness of listing shows that are only halfway over. This is perhaps (definitely) a meaningless exercise, but hey, it gives me a reasonably coherent topic to cover when shows are generally just sort of durdling around and gearing up for their final push. This season’s a bit unusual ranking-wise, in that as far as “actual real serious-business shows go,” it’s basically just Gatchaman Crowds insight versus an empty field. Classroom Crisis has its moments but is far too inconsistent to consider great, and everything else I’m watching falls somewhere into “enjoyable popcorn garbage.” Can you… rank… garbage?
Yeah, of course you can fucking rank garbage. I may be watching Prison School, but I’m certainly not watching Sky Wizards Academy, and there are damn good reasons for that. So let’s take a fine-tooth comb to this season’s pee jokes and snake-fucking and RUN THESE SHOWS DOWN.
Classroom Crisis – Episode 6
Classroom Crisis rallied back with an excellent episode this week, revealing Nagisa’s full past in an episode full of the small character moments that make even this show’s weakest episodes at least somewhat compelling. This is definitely a pretty lopsided show, but it’s the kind of lopsided I can get behind – its best elements are unique and very valuable, and it having a bunch of obvious failings along with them is just how it goes with a lot of anime. And second halves are generally more conflict-focused anyway, so there’s a fair chance Classroom Crisis will average out to a very solid show.
Here’s my full ANN writeup, and you can check out my notes below!
Summer 2015 – Week 5 in Review
Nearing the halfway point again! And once again, I’m gonna keep things loose and flowing here for the week in review. When I’ve only got a couple episodes worth actually talking about, and I’m already covering one of them in great essay-sized blocks for ANN, I gotta do what I can to fill your Wednesdays with criticism and joy. So let’s run down all the random crap I’ve been watching, starting at the top with G-G-GATCHAMANNNN.
Classroom Crisis – Episode 5
Well, it was bound to happen. You can’t have a show with “classroom” in the title and avoid a derpy beach episode at some point, I suppose. And this episode certainly was Beach Episode As Fuck, which I used as an excuse to largely talk about how this show can sometimes feel at war with itself. It feels like the pitch for this show went “we can let you get away with this corporate struggle between simplistic but bold ideals and the necessities of business, but you’ll have to stick in at least one classroom setting, three ‘I’m not an old woman’ jokes, and a beach episode.” Hopefully the devil has now been paid his due, and Classroom Crisis can be strictly good from here on out.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Summer 2015 – Week 4 in Review
Wednesday has come again! And I’m at a bit of a loss. As I’ve mentioned before, the fact that I’m watching so little this season means these week in review posts feel a little barren to me. So I’m gonna take that situation as a chance to experiment a bit – get a little looser and more conversational with the style, and actually cover how my “week in anime” really was, and not just blurbs about the specific airing shows.
So how was this week in anime?
It was extremely damn good, actually. Because I’m not being overwhelmed with airing shows and am somewhat ahead on my ANN work, I was able to get to a bunch of backlog stuff. I’ve got a pretty diverse mix of shows I’m watching now, but I guess we can start with the stuff that actually was airing. Let’s run it down!
Classroom Crisis – Episode 4
Classroom Crisis continues to be, well, whatever Classroom Crisis is. The show has rough edges, but a lot of great qualities, and an extremely strong thematic/emotional core. At this point I feel like the show itself is basically like its own protagonists – everyone’s counted it out, and nobody seems to be watching it, but damnit, there’s something worth rooting for there! Especially in this dire-ass season, it makes me sad Classroom Crisis seems to be somehow slipping through the cracks.
Anyway. This episode was fun. You can check out my full review over at ANN, or see more specific notes below!